New Book Examines Religion's Role in 2008 Election

Summary: Corwin Smidt, director of the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College, will present his findings from more than 3,000 surveys conducted around the 2008 presidential election at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at the Meeter Center Lecture Hall.

Q&A with Corwin Smidt: http://www.calvin.edu/news/2009-10/smidt-q&a

Corwin Smidt will lecture on "The Disappearing God Gap? Religion and the 2008 Presidential Election," at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at the Meeter Center Lecture Hall.

Smidt will present some of the findings of a national survey, which was conducted as part of the Civic Responsibility research grant awarded to the Henry Institute by the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. The survey's purpose was to evaluate the interplay between religious beliefs, behaviors and values, and political attitudes and opinions surrounding the 2008 election. The more than 3,000 Americans who took the surveys form the basis for the upcoming book co-authored by Smidt titled: "The Disappearing God Gap."

"The book seeks to demonstrate how religion played a role throughout the course of the whole 2008 presidential campaign, and that its influence was not confined to Election Day, as well as to assess whether the 'politics of religious traditionalism' is replacing 'the politics of religious traditions' in structuring vote choice. The book reveals that the role of religion in American presidential elections is hardly disappearing - that it continues to shape elections and structure vote choices in significant ways."

Oxford University Press will publish Smidt's book in early 2010. For more information contact Smidt at 616-526-6233.

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Received on Fri Oct 2 09:14:06 2009